MARTIN O’Neill has motivated Villa for tomorrow’s FA Cup third-round trip to Gillingham by admitting their recent record in the competition is simply not good enough.

O’Neill believes a club of Villa’s pedigree should have lifted the trophy since their last triumph in 1957, but he is not getting carried away about their chances of doing it this season.

Although the manager, who was yesterday linked with a move for Sunderland striker Kenwyne Jones, has pledged to name his strongest side for the lunch-time tie against the League Two minnows, he is keeping two serious injury doubts under wraps.

“There’s no point me giving names because we don’t know what they’ll be like for the game, but one or two are very doubtful,” said O’Neill.

“Our record against lower-league teams hasn’t been great and our record in the FA Cup since 2000 when we reached the final has not been so clever.

“I’ve been responsible for the last couple of years of that when we’ve played Manchester United and it hasn’t been good.

“We all set out in the first week in January with great dreams about the competition then cold reality hits you – playing the game.

“It’s the type of fixture that years ago would have been one not to miss. A First Division side going down to a team a couple of leagues below them and in danger of being knocked out. This football club, not since 1957, but way back in its early days, had a great record in the FA Cup.

“A good Cup run for us now would be to get into the fourth round! It’s a great old history of the football club and you’d like to try and do something and I think the supporters would as well.”

O’Neill remains a staunch supporter of the FA Cup and can recall all of the scorelines from finals dating back more than 50 years.

“The top Premier League sides, maybe going back quite some time now, have accepted that the Champions League is the Holy Grail,” he said.

“Maybe the FA Cup has been lessened from that viewpoint, although the competition is really dear to me.

“The competition has definitely changed over the years and I would want it to get back to its lustre.”

Meanwhile, O’Neill is believed to be looking at Sunderland striker Kenwyne Jones as doubts grow over his ability to beat Liverpool to the signature of Emile Heskey.

Heskey is thought to want to complete a return to Anfield and O’Neill is therefore considering £5million Jones as a ready-made alternative.

Trinidad and Tobago striker Jones moved to the Black Cats for £6million from Southampton more than two-and-a-half years ago.

He has now fully recovered from the knee ligament injury that sidelined him in June after a collision with David James in England’s 3–0 end-of-season friendly win.